REDEEMER AT HOME
March 14, 2021
"We are in danger of forgetting
that God is not only a comfort
but a joy.”
— Joy Davidman
Welcome
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If you are new to Redeemer or would simply like to connect more to this community, let us know below. We'd love to share more about this church and get to know you better.
Preparation
As a household, give yourselves a few moments to settle in. Take a few deep breaths. Check-in with yourself/household: name the thoughts that are filling your mind in this moment.
Take a few more deep breaths.
Now be reminded of the joy of God in this call to worship.
Call to Worship
based on Psalm 36:7-9, 100:4
How priceless is the unfailing love of God!
People take refuge in the shadow of His wings.
They feast on the abundance of His house;
He gives them drink from His river of delights.
For with Him is the fountain of life;
in His light we see light.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
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In the Bible, God invites us to worship because it is not our natural impulse to come to Him. Still He calls, reminding us of His pursuing love. May we respond out of gratitude.
Opening Prayer
Jesus, maker and renewer of all things, what a gift to know you and your redeeming work! You are our Savior, our Liberator, our Healer, our Rest, and our Joy. May our hearts be captured by your spectacular love and renewed by your Spirit so that we might follow you with abundant joy. For the sake of your glorious name, Amen.
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Prayer is simply conversation with God. Our worship is filled with prayer as we seek to know and delight in our Father.
Song of Praise
Verse:
Come and stand before your Maker
Full of wonder, full of fear
Come behold His power and glory
Yet with confidence draw near
For the One who holds the heavens
And commands the stars above
Is the God who bends to bless us
With an unrelenting love
Chorus:
Rejoice, come and lift your hands and
Raise your voice, He is worthy of our praise
Rejoice, sing of mercies of your King
And with trembling, rejoice
Verse:
We are children of the promise
The beloved of the Lord
Won with everlasting kindness
Bought with sacrificial blood
Bringing reconciliation
To a world that longs to know
The affections of a Father
Who will never let them go
Chorus:
Rejoice, come and lift your hands and
Raise your voice, He is worthy of our praise
Rejoice, sing of mercies of your King
And with trembling, rejoice
Verse:
All our sickness, all our sorrows
Jesus carried up the hill
He has walked this path before us
He is walking with us still
Turning tragedy to triumph
Turning agony to praise
There is blessing in the battle
So take heart and stand amazed
Chorus:
Rejoice, when you cry to Him He hears
Your voice, He will wipe away your tears
Rejoice, in the midst of suffering
He will help you sing
Chorus:
Rejoice, come and lift your hands and
Raise your voice, He is worthy of our praise
Rejoice, sing of mercies of your King
And with trembling, rejoice
Music: Dustin Kensrue | Lyrics: Dustin Kensrue and Stuart Townend
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Music at Redeemer seeks to remind us of the beauties of the Lord and express our deepest emotions: joy and praise, sadness and anger, love and gratitude, fear and hope. We sing because we believe God is the greatest hero and joy the world has ever known. He is mighty enough to receive cosmic praise, and tender enough to handle our most fragile whimpers and hurts.
Song of Praise
Verse:
I approach the throne of glory
Nothing in my hands I bring
But the promise of acceptance From a good and gracious King
Verse:
I will give to You my burden
As You give to me Your strength
Come and fill me with Your Spirit
As I sing to You this praise
Chorus:
You deserve the greater glory
Overcome, I lift my voice
To the King in need of nothing
Empty handed I rejoice
You deserve the greater glory
Overcome with joy I sing By Your love I am accepted
You’re a good and gracious King
Verse:
O what grace that You would see me
As Your child and as Your friend
Safe, secure in You forever
I pour out my praise again
Chorus:
You deserve the greater glory
Overcome, I lift my voice
To the King in need of nothing
Empty handed I rejoice
You deserve the greater glory
Overcome with joy I sing By Your love I am accepted
You’re a good and gracious King
Bridge:
Holy, holy, Lord Almighty
Good and gracious Good and gracious
Holy, holy, Lord Almighty
Good and gracious King
Chorus:
You deserve the greater glory
Overcome, I lift my voice
To the King in need of nothing
Empty handed I rejoice
You deserve the greater glory
Overcome with joy I sing By Your love I am accepted
You’re a good and gracious King
© 2016 CityAlight Music Words and music by Jonny Robinson, James Ferguson, Michael Farren
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Music at Redeemer seeks to remind us of the beauties of the Lord and express our deepest emotions: joy and praise, sadness and anger, love and gratitude, fear and hope. We sing because we believe God is the greatest hero and joy the world has ever known. He is mighty enough to receive cosmic praise, and tender enough to handle our most fragile whimpers and hurts.
Prayer of Confession
Before you begin, remember that the Father already extends his forgiveness and smiling love through Jesus. There is nothing left to earn. All that remains is to receive.
Heavenly Father,
You are the river of all joy,
and the fountain of all delight.
Forgive us for thinking of you as anything less than that.
Forgive us for not delighting in you.
[Silent Confession]
God of grace,
Open our eyes to your laughter,
our ears to your songs of delight,
and restore to us the joy of your salvation.
Through Jesus we pray.
Amen.
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This prayer helps us bring the most shame-filled parts of our hearts and lives to Jesus. Although God already knows everything about us, when we confess to him our wrong, we experience afresh his unending forgiveness and welcome.
Assurance of Grace
Zepheniah 3:17 & Romans 8:15-16
The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Know that in Christ you are forgiven, loved, and delighted in!
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The assurance is a powerful reminder that God always has grace for the wayward. He never leaves us in our sin. For all who trust in Jesus, this grace is assuredly and undoubtedly yours. Sin is not powerful enough to sway God's love and grace for you.
Song of Trust
Verse:
Where does my help come from?
Where does my help come from?
When trouble rolls and the tempest blows?
And my hope is gone?
Where can my faith be strong?
Yeah where can my faith be strong?
When all I hear is the voice of fear
And it rages on
Chorus:
I lift my eyes to the heavens
I lift my eyes to the hills
My Lord surrounds me like mountains
He never shakes, never shakes, never will
Verse:
What if my world should fall?
What if my world should fall?
When I’m left betrayed or my riches fade
And I lose it all?
Where does my help come from?
Where does my help come from?
When trouble rolls and the tempest blows?
And my hope is gone?
Chorus:
I lift my eyes to the heavens
I lift my eyes to the hills
My Lord surrounds me like mountains
He never shakes, never shakes, never will
Bridge:
My God is with me
A fortress mighty
His river runs to make me glad
No pain is stronger,
No night is longer
Nothing can break the rock on which I stand
Chorus:
I lift my eyes to the heavens
I lift my eyes to the hills
My Lord surrounds me like mountains
He never shakes, never shakes, never will
Tag:
He never shakes, never shakes, never will
He never shakes, never shakes, never will
By Paul Ranheim & Kirk Sauers
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Music at Redeemer seeks to remind us of the beauties of the Lord and express our deepest emotions: joy and praise, sadness and anger, love and gratitude, fear and hope. We sing because we believe God is the greatest hero and joy the world has ever known. He is mighty enough to receive cosmic praise, and tender enough to handle our most fragile whimpers and hurts.
Prompted Prayer
Take a few minutes to pray aloud for our needs and those of our world, prompted by the following.
- For a life that tastes and sees that the Lord is good
- For Redeemer Longmont to be a place where people experience the delight of the Father in them
- For those trapped in debt
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We pray for ourselves, our community, and our world because God asks us to.
Prayer is simply conversation with God. Our worship is filled with prayer as we seek to know and delight in our Father.
Scripture Set-up
We briefly unpack the text to set up your reflection on this passage.
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For centuries, Christians have gathered to hear God's word preached, explained, and applied. We believe the word of God contained in the Bible are words of life, joy, and true freedom.
Scripture
Luke 19:1-10
[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
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Since the earliest days of Christianity, followers of Jesus have read Scripture as part of their worship. We believe God meets us in His word and that we are people who need to be shaped by this encounter.
Reflection
Take an extended time to prayerfully ponder and apply this passage. If you're with others, share your responses together. Feel free to journal or draw your thoughts and emotions.
- Imagine what it felt like to be Zacchaeus waiting in that tree. And then what it felt like when Jesus publicly calls him down in front of everyone. In what ways can you relate to him?
- Do you think Jesus would want to have a meal with you? Why or why not? What does that tell you about how you understand Jesus?
- For Zacchaeus, knowing Jesus immediately resulted in justice (i.e. correcting his offenses) and generosity (i.e. not only returning the money, but doing so with 300% interest). How do you imagine Zacchaeus felt doing this?
- This narrative shows how Jesus came to seek and save the lost. What does/would it look like for you to—like Jesus—hang out with someone ostracized or lonely here in Longmont? As people blessed to be a blessing, how might your presence and unexpected love bring them joy?
Take a minute to thank Jesus for his generous love towards you. Pray for one person to whom you might demonstrate the generous love of Jesus.
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For centuries, Christians have found a variety of ways to slow down and consider God and His word. Especially if this is an unfamiliar practice, we encourage you try being present in this way, asking the Holy Spirit to fill the sacred moment.
Song of Response
Verse:
Where can we run, where can we hide
That You will not find us, God?
Deepest of depths, highest of heights
Your love, it chases us
No matter where we’ve been
No matter what we’ve done
We can’t escape Your love
Chorus:
We will never see the end
We will never see the end of Your goodness
We will never see the end
We will never see the end of Your goodness
Verse:
Though we pass through the fire or we pass through the flood
You will be with us, God
Though we walk through the valley, the darkest of night
Your love will be our light
And when we are in plenty or we are in want
You will always be enough
Chorus:
We will never see the end
We will never see the end of Your goodness
We will never see the end
We will never see the end of Your goodness
Bridge:
And in our darkest hours, on our hardest days
We do not have to be afraid
For You will never leave, You will not forsake
The promises You have made
Chorus:
We will never see the end
We will never see the end of Your goodness
We will never see the end
We will never see the end of Your goodness
By Jessica Ray Langdon
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Music at Redeemer seeks to remind us of the beauties of the Lord and express our deepest emotions: joy and praise, sadness and anger, love and gratitude, fear and hope. We sing because we believe God is the greatest hero and joy the world has ever known. He is mighty enough to receive cosmic praise, and tender enough to handle our most fragile whimpers and hurts.
Benediction
Romans 15:13
Open your ears to hear and your heart to receive these words of God's blessing:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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God gets the final word of our service—and it is one of grace. Receive this blessing from the mouth and heart of our Father.
Sources: ESV Bible, NLT Bible, The Message
© 2021 Redeemer Longmont